298 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Thus, the author shows that the propensity to crime in men is about 

 four times as great as in women, in France. Now, while this holds 

 true as to crime in general, it does not as to crime in particular. In 

 poisoning, the proportion is 91 women to 100 men, while in murder 

 by other means the difference falls to 4 in 100. If we define the pro- 

 pensity to crime by the enormity of the offense, we find the ratio of 

 M. Quetfilet reduced just one-half, as the crime of parricide gives the 

 ratio of 50 to 100. Contrasting with this last offense the wounding 

 of parents, the ratio falls to 22. As the fact of a wound involves the 

 necessity of a personal encounter, we perceive that women instinctive- 

 ly if I may use the word shrink from this ; therefore, in estimating 

 the means by which the j^arricides. so greatly exceeding the ratio of 

 other murders, were accomplished, it is evident that some method 

 peculiar to women entered largely into the crime. Next, taking 

 into consideration two crimes, which may, inferentially, be attributed 

 largely to the motive of revenge in both sexes, we find for that of in- 

 cendiarism a ratio of 34, and for that of assassination a ratio of but 12 

 in 100. From this it is evident that the propensity to crime and the 

 degree to which women recoil from publicity in its execution are 

 widely different matters, and are traits which distinguish women from 

 men in the perpetration of crime. So marked is this trait that the 

 author, in analyzing crime in general with reference to sex, says that 

 "their numbers diminish in proportion according to the necessity of 

 the greater publicity before the crime can be perpetrated." There 

 are other facts to be reached in this direction showing the extent to 

 which women's criminal acts are affected by sexual peculiarities. In 

 the two great divisions of crime, that against persons and that against 

 property, we find that the sexes are engaged in almost a constant ra- 

 tio. This is fixed for a series of years for the first class of crimes as 

 0.16, and for the second at 0.26. In connection with this is a fact, 

 which reiterates itself with the force of a law. It is found that the 

 proportions of the sexes engaged in the crimes against persons and 

 property represent very nearly the same ratio as that of the strength 

 of the two sexes, 16 to 26. The law which controls the commission 

 of crime by the sexes evidently cannot be reduced to the formula of a 

 difference in the projjensity to crime dependent upon the relative 

 morality of men and women, but is governed by mental and physical 

 sexual peculiarities. All these figures relate to four years previous to 

 1830.' 



The application of this to the matter under investigation is evi- 

 dent. These various actions, involving more or less of thought and 

 resolve, exhibit a radical difference, both in degree and quality, which 

 umst have their factors in mental peculiarities. It cannot be objected 

 that there is simply a fundamental physical basis for this difference, 

 since the mental differences of sex must have their origin in the physi- 



' " A Treatise on Man," pp. 90-92, 



